Insulin resistance: a potential marker and risk factor for active tuberculosis?

Abstract

Current tuberculosis control measures are focused on the prompt detection and treatment of active tuberculosis. Despite the measured success of this strategy, tuberculosis continues to be a public health issue of major significance around the world. This unwanted situation suggests the need to expand our control efforts by exploring specific markers for the disease. Insulin resistance is one such marker. Although insulin resistance has been implicated in various diseases, thus far, no attempt has been made to analyze what has proved to be a direct relationship between insulin resistance and Mycobacterium tuberculosis susceptibility. Several studies have shown the role of insulin not only in cellular metabolism but also, more importantly, in phagocytosis of M. tuberculosis. Therefore, we hypothesize that insulin resistance can be considered a potential risk factor for active M. tuberculosis infection.